Ability Sequence

Introduction

Hey guys, welcome to my guide for Syndra! There's a few things to know about her.

She is one of the most dominant lane bullies for mid lane available at the moment, she works well with ganks and can survive ganks easily as well. She is long ranged, has poke and burst potential. Overall, she's just a great champion to play at the moment. However, she is hard to master but easy to play.

Runes

(Mandatory)
Always run magic pen marks, it's the only good option.

(VS AD)
In the case you're vs Zed/ Riven/ Talon that only does physical damage, go for armor seals.

(VS AP)
In the case you're vs a Mage, go HP/LvL seals.

(Recommended)
If you're vs an AD mid, you want AP/LvL glyphs. Once you become really good at Syndra, you can ALWAYS go AP/LvL and that's what I suggest you get used to eventually.

Void Staff can be built third if they have MR or fourth if they don't. If you build it third, build the other big AP item that you didn't buy (Deathcap or Hourglass) after it.

(Boots)
Sorcerer's Shoes

As far as boots go, you want Sorcerer's Shoes and just buy them when it's convenient.

OR

(Defensive)
Guardian Angel or Banshee's Veil

You will need a defensive item in most cases since your damage is super high already, you just need to be able to survive. Get a Guardian Angel or a Banshee's Veil depending on what you need more and who you're against.

Tips and Tricks

Try and keep a Q in lane somewhere, that way you can control their pathing and always have an easy stun if they misposition. Be patient with your Es, as one missed E can be your death or a missed kill!

You can grab your Q with W and throw it, while it's in the air, you can E it and it'll stun when it lands instantly for a faster ultimate.

Normally speaking, you want to have at least two Qs down before ulting. So with that in mind, your ideal combo would be something like Q - E - W - Q - R - Q.

If someone uses Zhonya's Hourglass, it will nullify your ultimate even if the first few balls hit, so be careful with invulnerability moves.

In case you ever buy Deathfire Grasp, use it first as it will increase your burst damage exponentially.

Matchups

As far as lane match ups go, Syndra wins most of them. Why you ask? Because she has strong dueling power, strong pushing power and it's easier for her to outplay the enemy, than them to outplay you.

I'll go into detail into a couple specific match ups, but generally speaking they all go about the same. You try and land Qs, control the creep wave so you don't overextend too hard, keep Q spheres in land and land a stun when you can, and whittle them down.

(Dangerous)
Yasuo is actually pretty hard. If he goes Boots of Speed and 4 pots, it's actually pretty hard to land Qs on him and he can trade pretty well as he has more sustain. He's very vulnerable to ganks however, but as far as 1v1 goes, if you miss Q's you will lose the lane. Just wait until 6 and get a blue buff, then the lane becomes infinitely easier. In case you can't get blue, you'll still have kill pressure at 6.

(Moderate)
So Orianna and Ziggs are similar in playstyle in the fact they try to poke you down with Qs and need to land skill shots/autos on you. With these match ups, it's very important to not take too many autos from them, and they have long range as well, so it's basically a skill match up in favor of Syndra due to her CC and low mana costs for high damage spells.